An additional 17 samples are negative for Nipah virus. Minister of Health, Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, September  14, 2021:

A sample of 17 more people on the contact list for children infected with Nipah virus last week was negative, state health minister Veena George said Monday.

The minister said five of the 17 results were tested at Pune NIV and the rest at a special laboratory at the Calicut Medical College. “Currently, 140 close contact samples have been tested negative,” the minister said in a release.

The minister said a total of 115 samples had been tested within six days at a special laboratory set up at the medical college. The lab was set up on September 6, the day after the 12-year-old boy succumbed to Nipa on September 5, the minister said.

George said yesterday that it was important to identify the source of the infection, and the Pune NIV surveillance team has been collecting samples from various parts. She said high-risk contacts were isolated by Calicut MCH and their health was stable.

The state government conducted a complete home-to-house survey within a 3km radius of the Nipah virus-infected boy’s home as part of fever monitoring.

The government had previously stated that the investigation included about 15,000 homes from the containment zone and asked for details from about 68,000 people. ET HealthWorld